1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the processing of sewer sludge and, more particularly, relates to a system for processing human sludge with sea water and one or more chemical reactants to realize methane, clean water and solid refuse, and process for implementing same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various systems and processes are known for converting solid waste and/or sewer sludge into methane, harmless effluent and a small amount of solid waste. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,624,417 discloses a process for converting solid waste and sewage sludge into energy sources and a separate recyclable by-product from the energy generation procedure. The process converts the waste into a chemical intermediate substrate from which energy sources, such as solid carbon fuel product, methane gas, or separate steam and non-energy related by-products can be produced.
Processing human sewage has become an acute problem for municipal services, especially in urban areas with populations exceeding a million people. One reason is that conventional methods of processing raw sewage require enormous amounts of land which is just not always available. In efforts to overcome problems associated with sludge processing, various methods have been developed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,289 discloses an "off-shore" processing system facility for treatment of urban sewage without the need to use or contaminate urban land. However, transportation of the sludge to and from the facility can become quite costly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,401 discloses apparatus for manufacture of methane gas from sewage sludge and other organic waste. The apparatus includes a digester tank system, a solar heating unit and conduit means to use hot air from the solar heater to heat the digester tank/tanks. The methane is generated by bacteria which digests waste mixed with fresh water to form a slurry at a Ph in a range from about six (6) to eight (8), and the Ph-adjusted slurry is then heated and agitated for about ten (10) days at temperatures in a range of from about 100 degrees to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. As with the processing recited in U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,289, this specialized processing disclosed in the '401 patent can become quite costly.
A need therefore exists for a device and/or system that is constructed in such a manner to facilitate processing human sludge in an expedient manner without the need for external heating or enormous amounts of land. A further need exists for such a processing system, the final end products of which are either usable products, such as methane and water, or minimized waste products, without the need to employ bacteria to digest and/or further minimize said waste products.